| CYBERSECURITY (STILL) ON LEADERS’ MINDS — The European Union’s leaders are finalizing their Strategic Agenda document in the EU Council and cybersecurity is still earmarked as a priority to boost joint EU defense capabilities, writes POLITICO’s Laurens Cerulus and Barbara Moens. New financing instruments including “a new defense fund,” “expanding the [European Investment Bank]’s mandate” and “the possibility of EU defense bonds” could help support “large-scale European flagship projects” in air defense and EU cybersecurity, a text seen by POLITICO that reflected recent leaders’ dinner discussions said. Foreign disinformation and manipulation also popped up in the latest text, seen by POLITICO, as a key challenge. That follows an effort by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to lift the issue to one of her main talking points in the EU election campaign. EU citizens “are increasingly vulnerable” to disinformation and manipulation, and their effects “are often underestimated,” the text said, showing consensus among leaders to crack down on these attacks. An earlier version of the agenda items already flagged joint cyber defense capabilities as an EU priority. SECRET CABLES — The Chinese government is firing back at the Biden administration over claims that Beijing could tamper with vital undersea internet cables, accusing the U.S. of vilifying Chinese companies to maintain an eavesdropping monopoly. The pushback comes after The Wall Street Journal reported last week that U.S. officials had privately warned American tech giants like Google and Meta that Chinese ships repairing undersea cables could be engaged in clandestine mapping or tapping activities. According to the report, U.S. agencies alleged that cable repair vessels operated by the Chinese firm S.B. Submarine Systems had periodically gone missing from ship tracking data, raising concerns they could be conducting reconnaissance on military communication lines or stealing trade secrets. — That’s one way to put it: Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning blasted the allegations on Monday as "completely baseless and constitute ill-intentioned vilification of Chinese companies." She said the claims are part of a broader U.S. effort "to build a global monitoring system dominated by the US with no rival and under no oversight." TECH LEADERS TO CONVENE — This week's hot ticket is in Geneva, where a who's who of the AI world is gathering for the International Telecommunication Union's annual three-day summit. — Who’s who: Reps from Microsoft, Google, OpenAI, the Center for Humane Technology, the Future of Life Institute and U.S. government agencies will debate paths for regulating AI while touting how to harness the tech for global good. — The hard part: The summit will kick off on Wednesday with “AI Governance Day,” featuring panel discussions and closed-door roundtables with a lineup of industry and civil society reps and AI researchers to help government leaders navigate the transition from theorizing to implementing regulatory frameworks. — What we’re watching (from outside the club): While billed as a forum to explore using AI for sustainable development goals and other international issues, a major part of the summit will scrutinize emerging regulatory frameworks worldwide. An invitation-only, daylong event on Wednesday will take a hard look at both successful and flawed attempts to impose regulations on AI to identify gaps in existing frameworks. The guest list tops 150 people worldwide, including the State Department’s deputy envoy for critical and emerging tech Seth Center, World Trade Organization Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and secretary-general for China’s World Internet Conference Ren Xianliang. Government leaders from across the European Union, Asia and Africa, as well as reps from Meta, IBM, the Wikimedia Foundation and Stanford University are also set to be there.
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